"You're so cute Seungwan-ah."

Little Seungwan blushed at the compliment given by her teacher. Ducking her head low out of embarrassment, she gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ears, her cheeks colored in an adorable hue of rose.

"Thank you Ms." She shyly replied, eyes focused on her fiddling hands. The teacher just smiled at the little girl's shyness and encouraged her to play with the other kids running around the playground.

Seungwan bit her lip out of nervousness. The kids playing on the playground looked big and scary. She waddled towards an empty swing, hoping to spend her time alone while humming her favorite song. But a rather tall kid bumped into her.

"Hey watch where you're going pabo." He said, his teeth all crooked and yellow. He meanly stared at Seungwan, who cringed at the pain in her . Her bright smile quickly being replaced by a pained scowl.

She bowed her head, too scared to make direct eye contact with the taller boy. Her bangs covered her face, creating a curtain-like protection from the meanie.

"You're the pabo one Bogum-ssi." A voice interjected, its shadow casting upon Seungwan's slouched figure on the ground.

"Leave the girl alone or I'll tell you to Ms. Kim." The girl reprimanded, her voice stern. Seungwan's bewildered at the girl's courage to tell the taller kid off.

Seungwan watched in amazement as the boy huffed angrily before walking away.

"Hey you can stand up now." The girl said, her tone now void of strictness, and is replaced with softness. Seungwan didn't know how a person's voice can change that quickly.

Seungwan looked at the hand being offered, tracing it back to its owner's face, and is instantly greeted by the sun. The girl is smiling widely at her.

The taller girl helped her up before offering her hand again, for a handshake.

"I'm Kang Seulgi. What's your name?" The girl, Seulgi, asked. Her lips maintained that bright smile, also causing the younger one to smile, albeit timidly. 

"Son Seungwan." She said, trailing off. Her voice came out as a whisper and so Seulgi strained her ears to hear her voice.

"Son Seungwan's my name." Seungwan said, louder this time. She didn't like seeing the girl struggle in her position. It looked like the girl wanted to lean closer but is afraid that she might burst Seungwan's personal bubble.

The thought made Seungwan's heart flutter.

At the repetition of her name, Seulgi nodded her head, satisfied. She held out her hand for Seungwan to hold.

"Wanna be my friend now?" She asked, tilting her head in curiousity. Seungwan giggled. Seulgi resembed a bear right then.

The shorter girl nodded her head and held Seulgi's hand.

"Let's be friends." Seungwan added, the tone of her voice brightening as she let the warm feeling overtake her chest.

---

"Seungwan-ah~"

Seulgi looked at the girl beside her, eyes pleading. Seungwan just rolled her eyes at her best friend's antics.

"I swear to god Seulgi, you'll get us in trouble again." She said, shaking her head at the girl's request. She locked her locker and headed towards their class, with a puppy Seulgi in tow, following her every step.

Seulgi pouted more, bringing in her big guns : her puppy eyes. Her eyes shined of desperation Seungwan hadn't seen before. 

"Pretty please? Please Wannie, I'll treat you ice cream if you agree."

And that made Seungwan ultimately agree. She was not sure to which one though, the promise of free ice cream or the pout on Seulgi's face.

Big mistake.

Seungwan plopped her head on the table. Boredom is killing her at this point. They were the only students who got detention for the day, and so the assigned teacher left them alone, not too bothered since they were pretty much 'good students'.

"I told you pabo. I shouldn't have listened to you." Seungwan whined, her hand shaking. She looked back at her unbothered friend who just laughed at her, while sitting effortlessly on the desk.

"I'll still treat you ice cream Wan-ah, don't worry," Seulgi replied, inching towards her bored best friend. "besides, that was fun wasn't it?" She said, adding a giggle at the end. Seungwan's head shot up, eyes widening comically. 

"Don't look at me like you aren't guilty, I even heard you laugh when Mr. Lee came barging in drenched." Seulgi said, pointing an accusing finger at Seungwan who just smiled innocently. 

Seungwan giggled, not bothering to explain her side. It was indeed fun. She propped her head on her hand and stared at the glaring green blackboard.

"It's already time Wannie, wanna get ice cream now?" Seulgi suddenly said, interrupting Seungwan's intense stare off with the plain blackboard.

The shorter girl just nodded. She stood up and went to Seulgi's side, who threw an arm around her shoulders.

"You really are short Seungwannie." Seulgi teased, her loud laugh echoing around the empty hallway.

The sentence earned her a hard jab on her side.

The ice cream parlor isn't that far, so the two chose to walk. They took their time, swaying from side to side-pretending they were drunkards, laughing at each other's jokes-no matter how corny it is, and held hands-the clamminess of their respective palms being forgotten.

They soon arrived at the store. There were not much people in it, giving the girls more time to choose the flavor that they'd like.

"I'll just have strawberry Ddeulgi." Seungwan said, using the nickname she had given the bear-like girl when they were still in middle school.

Seulgi scrunched her nose at the name, but said nothing else. She never liked nicknames, but for her best friend, she'll have to make an exception.

Getting their orders, they sat on an unoccupied table, sitting opposite of each others. They're always talkative and loud, but when it came to food, they become silent clowns, just making weird facial expressions to make the other laugh.

After finishing her cup, Seulgi looked at Seungwan, her head tilted to properly gaze at the girl's face. Seungwang rolled her eyes. She offered the food maniac a spoonful of her strawberry ice cream.

Seulgi nodded happily at this, savoring the slightly sour flavor of strawberries mixed with the refreshing taste of the cream.

"What are you planning to do on your 18th birthday Seungwan-ah?" Seulgi unexpectedly asked. Her mind has been plagued with thoughts of 18th birthdays, just right after she blew her candle on her own 18th birthday.

Seungwan's eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought, the question catching her off guard. It's not usual for Seulgi to ask this types of question, it might have really bounced inside her mind, causing her curiousity to heighten-high enough to catch the usually composed Seungwan off guard.

"I don't know, I guess I'll just let my soulmate come to me." Seungwan replied with a giggle, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. Seulgi nodded at her answer, leaning more into her seat.

They stayed on their seat until Seungwan finished her ice cream. They walked hand in hand through the cold breeze of the night.

"Can I sleepover at yours tonight Wannie?" Seulgi asked, tightening her hold on Seungwan's cold hands. The latter nodded, tightening her hold on to Seulgi, her lips quivering.

Arriving at the empty house-Seungwan's parents were out of town, they immediately went to the kitchen to preheat the leftovers. It was mostly Wendy who did the job, Seulgi just sat on one of the stools and watched her. 

They ate silently, the glow of the television basking the both of them. With grease covered lips, they laughed at the stupid jokes the comedians threw at each other.

Midnight came and so as their drowsiness. Stacking the used paper plates on Seungwan's bedside table, they snuggled against one another, whispering their respective goodnights on to their skin.

---

Seungwan slouched in her position, wiping the water off of her face. Her lips formed a frown, glaring at the culrpit who stood on the other side of the backyard, giggling.

"I swear to your mother Kang Seulgi, I'll murder you if you shoot me with that water gun of yours again." Seungwan said, voice hard and gruff.

Her voice didn't intimidate Seulgi one bit, she knew her best friend wouldn't dare hurt a fly, what more her? And so she squirted the unexpecting girl once again.

And boy is she wrong. 

Seungwan tackled her to the ground, straddling her waist.

"I told you didn't I?"